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ElgMTH ARMY KORPS BALLADS 



G. GARNET GROVES 






Copyright, igoj 
By G. Garnrt Groves 



WESTERN BLANK BOOK COMPANY 

TACOMA, WASHINGTON 






v^ " PRELUDE 

Comrades of days that are gone— 
Friends of to-day I know;— 

So long as the tie remains. 

The stronger that tie shall grow. 

Let us search thro' an old campaign 
For the sorrow and mirth we wrongJit, 

The lives that shine beyond the brine 
In lands ive dearly bought. 



CX:>NTRNU^S 



Pkri.udr 

Page 

Wheke I Would Be 7 

Pakana^uk 10 

Hawaii 13 

When the Troop-Ship Sails to the East . 16 
Ballad of the Out Bkeak . ... 19 

Beside the Fash; 23 

Bacalok 25 

Scouting . . . .... 27 

Advance on Santa Makia . . . . 29 

Rail-Road Patrol . . . . .33 

Ants' Nest 36 

At Meraquena 38 

The Prisoner 42 

Manila Guard 48 

Baj.lad OK AN Armv Oven . . . 50 

Battle of Beno Tower .... .% 

Tondo Fire bO 

On Outpost to 

Ballad of the North Line . . .65 

Roast Pork 71 

Night Outpost 73 



Contents 



The FiMPiNO Indian 77 

Spectok ok Lolombov . . . .81 

Aboard THE Troop-Ship .... 85 
Ballad OF THE Phantom Sage . . . 89 
Whex the Troop-Ship Sails to Japan . 95 
At Hong Kong ... , . 99 

The Sentinel's Song . . . lOl 



Madrigal ... ... 505 

In Springtime ..... 106 

Down on the Amazon . . . 108 

Four Great Gods . . . . Ill 



Eighth Army Corps Ballads 



WHERE I WOULD BE. 



There is somethino: in the spring time, 

In them spicy tropic smells, 
In the jungle and the rice-field, 

In the twilight of the dells: 
That is calling, calling, calling. 

And it's there that I would be, 
On the beach at Paranaque, 

Looking lazy out to sea. 

There the winds are in the palm trees, 

I can hear them to this day. 
They are calling to the breakers, 

And I wonder what they say : 
They are calling, calling, calling. 

And it's there that I would stay, 
By the mangos and the cocos. 

Looking out across the bay. 



Where I Would Be 



'J'here's a, girl down on the calla, 

Like tlie sunshine and the dew, 
Her lips were made for kisses. 

But she ain't "ot none for you: 
And her heart is sad with waiting;: 

For a Yankee soldier lad. 
But he's gone— and gone forever— 

With a promise what was bad. 

There's the barracks by the river, 

And the barracks by tlie sea. 
There's the block-house and the trenches, 

Where the soldiei*s used to be: 
And there's pay-dirt in the foothills. 

And its there that I would be. 
Where some sparkling mountain warbler 

Tumbles down toward the sea. 

'J'hore's the wall about the Old Town, 

With its dunc'cons and its guns. 
There's the black-hole and the flood-gates, 

Where the nniddy T^asig runs: 
There's the bi*eezy bi-oad Tjuneta — 

And its there that T would stay, 
AVith my lovely senei'itta— 

Looking out across the bay. 



Where I Would Bt 



For the wind is in the palm trees, 

I can hear it to this da\'. 
It is calling to the breakers. 

And I wonder what they say: 
They are callino-, callino-. callino-. 

And its there that I would be. 
By the mangos and the eocos, 

Looking Ihzv out to so^i. 



10 Faranaque 



*PARANAQUE. 

Paranaque's on the Bay! 

Blow the buj^ie, sound the drum, 
There is where our army lay, 

Waiting" for the ships to come. 
Waiting' in the boiling sun, 

Digging peanuts in the sand, 
Dog-tents were as good as none. 

Rain poured thro' to beat the band. 

Forragin' for cookin' wood 

Was our duty on fatigue. 
Had to find it dry and good. 

Had to steal it from a nig. 
Had to rustle in the rain 

Tearin' down a shack or two, 
Takin' every fence amain— 

**^rind that bridge of long ])amboo^ 

Outpost was the worst 'st' iilace. 

In the trenches in the mud, 
Sleep ne'er stared us in the face 

AVhen we heard the bullets thud. 
Night ns black as Erebus, 



Parana que ^^ 



Rain a pourin' from the clouds. 
No one seemed to care a cuss 

HoAV much time the world allowed. 

Niggers crawlin' thro' the brush 

All the achin', livelong night, 
Soldiers trampin' thro' the slush 

Till the morning's sudden l^ght. 
Every livin' l)reathin' thing 

Had a queer nro-tropic haze, 
Every sound a diiterent ring. 

Every thought a different phase. 

Talked of piles of poison snakes. 

Shark that rolled out in the bay. 
All the horrm-s of earthquakes. 

All wild animals of prey. 
All the poison ants and flies, 

Tarantulas and centipedes. 
That we'd never read in lies, 

AVere rehearsed well for our needs. 

Talked about the Great AA'alled Town, 
How we'd storm and how we'd take it. 

Though if we were half cut down, 
AVhether we could surely make it. 

But there'll never be a doubt, 



12 Paranaque 

AVhere the fla^ and bufrle call ns. 
Like true warriors we'll be out. 
In the front nnd tliickcst hIwhn's. ' 

PHrMnM((ne*s on tlu' l>ay. 

Bhnv the })U<i]e, sonnd the drnm, 
Tliere is vvIkm-c our Mriiiy Imv 

Waitin<i- for tlic ships to (•( mo. 
AVaitin^- in the boiling' sun. 

Dio'iiin^' pennnts in the sand. 
-Doii'-tents wei'e as tiood as none. 

!^nn poni'cd tliro' to ])(vit the band, 

* Pronoun (•<'(! Pah-rah-nock-e(^, 



Hawaii 



HAWAII. 

Hawaii gem of tlie ocean! 

Hawaii bold and free. 
Bits of sun-girth mountains 

Cleft in an opal sea. 
Thy palms are in my memory, 

Thy songs are in my heart, 
Thy winds and waves are with me. 

And shall not soon depart. 

Bold headlands from the ocean, 

Where silvery billows dash. 
Where brave kanaki divers 

Go down without a splash. 
Where seas are high and breakei^ boom, 

I watch with anxious eye, 
The daring, laughing serf-men. 

That on their boards go by. 

J see as in a vision. • 

Thy beaches l)r<tad and free, 

I hear the laughing wavelets 
That sport at AVaikiki.* 

I see majestic headlands 

All bald and grim and ^rc'v. 



14 Hawaii 



I see thy smoke and fire 
A hundred miles away. 

I see thy busy harbors 

With thrivinf>' valleys near, 
I lie down in thy jungles 

Unarmed, without a fear. 
Of all the isles in ocean 

That God hath eared to make, 
Thine are the only ones of worth 

He freed from beast and snake. 

Born in the wild mid-oeean, 

IMarked by the crowded world. 
Thy name goes out on the four winds, 

And round the earth is whirl'd. 
Thy hills and dales shall l)lossom, 

To furnish ships their loads. 
And nations all shall know thee. 

As ":\[art of the Oreat Cross Koads." 

Whether in storm or sadness, 

Whether by nipht or day, 
Ye haA'C no fear for the future, 

The flag is there to stay. 
Ye have no fears to borrow. 

Ye have no cares to seal. 



Hawaii 15 



Ye have no quarrels to settle, 
Nor ghastly wounds to heal. 

But look to the East at morning-. 
And look to the West at night, 
And see the flyino: galleons. 
Fast hoving into sight ; 

Thine honor locked up the flag-— 
Which trust no foe can sever, 

Thine aims be fair, as fruits ye bear, 
For thou art free forever. 
* Pronounced Y-k-kee. 



16 H'hen the Troopship Sails to the East 



WHEN THE TROOPSHIP SAILS TO 
THK EAST. 

** We doirt care it' we never come back !" 

Is what tlie soldiers sanji", 
Wliile niarcbiiig- down on ^Market Street 

']\Jid cheer and shout and bang. 
*'0 stand away you rookies, 

You'll have to stay and drill, 
You've got to learn the service rules 

Or take the service pill." 

"We're off and away to the wai-s today, 

And we'll make room for you, 
Our banners bri«>ht shall see the lii^ht 

Of a tropical sun an' dew ; 
Our banners bright shall stream in the fight 

From mart-head and from main, 
'Tis ours to take where south seas bi'eak 

Ere w'e come back again." 

"The sei'vice rules are not for fools. 

To jostle ()Y to break, 
You'll find 'em real like tempered steel, 

And swift as a diving drake. 
You'll learn to know where 'ere you go, 



When the Troopship Sails to the East 17 



And the law will hold you to it, 
There's much to do 'fore you get through, 
And but one way to do it." 

The troopship sails across the sea. 

It leaves their homes behind, 
Their hearts are gay by night and day. 

In face of a strong trade wind ; 
If mind is sad the heart is glad. 

With hope of battles gain, 
For sphere of thought is all unbought. 

The seas— from main to main. 

The troopship sails into the Bay, 

Her anchors rattle down, 
The boys descry from sea to sky 

The crumbling Old Walled Town ; 
The boys descry from sea to sky 

A. pamorama grand. 
And each would swop his berth and slop, 

For a place upon the land. 

"This world and then the fire-works!" 

Is what the soldiers said, 
A sliding down the gang-plank. 

All loaded down with lead : 
drive the cascos side by side, 



18 When the Troopship Sails to the East 

And load them down with men, 
'Tis a welcome treat to mind and feet, 
To tread on land a^ain. 

'Tis a welcome treat to mind and feet 

Tg tread on foreign sod, 
Where bugle notes and true blue-coats, 

Go side by side with God : 
For price of land where 'er we stand, 

Is stajnped upon our flag ; 
May they that sneer at price so dear, 

Be burned with furnace slag. 



Ballad oj the Outbreak 19 



BALLAD OF THE OUTBREAK. 

Tw:s on the fourth of February 

In eighteen ninety-nine, 
Our guards were out on posts about 

Old grey Manila Town. 
Our guards were in her streets so dim, 

And on her streets so bright. 
Yet none e 'er guessed of storm that pressed, 

Hard down upon our right. 
And none once thought of screaming shot. 

That soon the air would cleft. 
In ribbon strings as Hell-mouth sings, 

Hard down upon our left. 
And no one knew of swarthy crew, 

Who's hearts were set to rid, 
The boys in blue and Spaniards, too. 

From sea to Bilibid. 

'Twas nine at night that on our right 

An orderly came swift. 
He brought the news . The enemy moves, 

As gathering storm-clouds drift : 
From left the same news quickly came, 

The guards all double tramp, 
When volleys sing with battles ring 

At Santa Mesa camp. 



20 Ballad of the Outbreak 

Our bugles call within the wall, 

And beyond the Pasigs right, 
Ten thousand men at quick step then, 

Go clanging to the fight: 
And they all knew their places, too, 

Their line must stand to birth, 
For Yankee stock 'fore doomed must lock. 

Its line around the earth. 

The niggers' shot flew thick and hot 

Above the stone locked toAvn, 
Our gunboats threw their searchlights true 

To run their trenches down; 
And where the light showed foe in sight. 

It bare down on their flank, 
Where ten-inch shell works quick and well 

As it cuts its way in a rank. 
The power it holds draws out men's souls 

To fry on a screaming nose, 
And a hundred cry to God on high 

Whenever a twelve-inch goes. 

They come in files for twenty miles. 

And hem the city round, 
As winds are bound to sweep the town 

So are their heart strings Avound, 
Our searchlights daojce o^ their adva^ce,— 



Ballad of the Outbreak 21 

Hard on their left and right, 
Our volleys true cut through and through 
And leave no line in sight. 

The citizens pass in frantic mass 

To gain the old walled town, 
And carriages crash o 'er men and dash 

The women and children down. 
The chenos flew their queues shot through 

The holes in the gaping wall, 
They carried their gain in bundles twain 

And swore that they owned it all. 

Great irons brown came rattling down 

And closed the Escolta's doors; 
Ten thousand shot on roofs are hot 

While the hailing battle roars. 
And a wail of wars goes up to the stars 

As if it were judgment eve, 
And heathen Chinee that cannot flee 

Hides himself in his sleeve. 

Once more they come with furious hum 

To drive us to the sea, 
Once more they chase to hiding-place 

Resolved to let us be. 
And thousands must to bite the dust, 



22 Ballad of the Outbreak 

Their wounds cannot be healed, 
Tliey lay in piles for miles and miles 

Upon the bloody field. 
Their renmants chase from place to place 

Their shouts call up the dawn. 
When morning's light broke thro' the night 

We found that the foe had gone. 

And it shall be from sea to sea 

AVhere'er our proud flag streams, 
That whatever meet with Yankee fleet 

Be blown to smithereens. 
And we shall stand from land to land 

God 's messengers of light, 
And we shall win in battles din 

The grip of a close fought fight. 
For long as stars shall shine on wars 

Our line shall stand to birth, 
For Yankee stock 'fore-doomed shall lock 

Its line around the earth. 



Beside the Pasi^ 23 



BESIDE THE PASIG. 

I stood beside the Pasij^js troubled tide, 
At evening's ever changing glow; 

I saw a hundred boats at anchor ride, 

I watched the murky waters come and go. 

And now and then a native bark shot by, 
Filled with the forests wholesome store; 

And here and there the water cabbage lie, 
Lodged 'gainst the boats along the shore. 

And great black cascos filled with oil and 
hemp, 
Came floating down and slowly passed 
me by ; 
Here rafts of cocoanuts that closely keep, 
The rivers foamy margin where they lie. 

I heard the booming of the sun-set gun, 
And watched the fishers toiling 'gainst 
the stream ; 
I heard the washers pounding on the bund. 
And saw the dreamer smoking thro' his 
dream. 



24 Beside the Pasi^ 

The watch is set, the streets are cleared, 
The rumbling:s of a busy city cease, 

The weary provost on his circuit steered, 
Looks anxiously toward his short release. 

Then darkness settles over land and sea, 
Search lights sweep the heavens and the 
shore ; 

A land breeze rustles thro' a mango tree, 
A pukme sings his monotone the more. 

The call to quarters sounds the city through. 
The wicked current 'gainst a casco slaps. 

Then bugles wake the evening air anew, 
Clear thrilling notes, prolonged— 'tis 
taps. 



Bacalor 25 



BACALOR. 

Bacalor is sun and dust, nipa huts and 

straw, 
Everythino^ that's said and done is straight 

agin' the law; 
Niggei^ all a free-love sort and don't believe 

in clothes, 
Just the way God sent him here that's the 

way he goes. 

Says he is a patriot and loves his country, 

too, 
Keeps a shiny bowie-knife hid for me and 

you; . 

0, he is sage and very grave, and shmy as 

alpaca. 
But all he knows (and this I know) is Lino 

and tobacca. 

Wake up in the morning feeling like a fool. 
Shuffle out to reville, for that's an army 

rule ; 
Next your out in line of squads searcliing 

f Qr the foe. 
And where you hadn't ought to be, that's 

where your apt to go. 



26 Bacalor 



Camp out in the open field and sizzle in the 

sun, 
Watch the old Artificer a patching up his 

gun. 
Never was a hotter place and never will 

there be, 
Than the plain of Bacalor— inland from 

the sea. 

Bacalor is sun and dust, dogs and red-eyed 

rats. 
Mosquitoes and tarantulas, ants and bugs 

and bats: 
What a pleasant place to be— just above 

sea level, 
Climatic conditions true to grow a red-hot 

devil. 

Fever is a common thing— prickly heat and 

itch— 
Germs of every dread disease in the water 

ditch. 
And when the last Great Bugle Call rings 

out across the moor 
I'd hate to be among the men that/s %^t\\ 

to Bacalor. 



Scouting 27 



SCOUTING. 

Scouting ill the inorniiifi', 

AVhen our vano'uard moves, 
Trampiii^- throupfh the eane-break 

Dripping with the dews; 
Heard a bullet whistle low— 

Looking* around to see, 
It had found a comrade 

Just below the knee. 

Tramping in the noon-day, 

Throats as dry as chalk, 
Dust had filled the voice-box 

Till we couldn't talk; 
Felt the fever in our bones 

Drawing* out our life, 
Felt the cramps at every step, 

Cutting like a knife. 

In the furrowed rice fields, 
When the sun is low. 

Aching for the word to halt- 
Hungry as a crow; 

Heard a bullet singing low— 
]LiOoked around surprised, 



28 Scouting 



It had found a comrade 
Square between the eyes. 

In the tang'led jungle, 

Searching out the foe, 
Battling with the boa snake, 

Scaring up the doe; 
In the muddy nipa swamps 

Little did we make, 
Tramping on the crocodile 

And poison water snake. 

Scaring up the caribou 

In his muddy lair, 
Kneeling down to drink the slush 

Little caring where; 
Brushing otf a centipede — 

Felt the prickly heat. 
Stinging like a thousand pins 

From our heads to feet. 

In the tangled forest, 

Where the python glides. 
Fuzzy black tarantulas 

Hanging to our sides; 
There I left my comrade, 

Death had gripped him tight, 
Rolled up in his poncho. 

In the arms of night. 



Advance on Santa Maria 29 



ADVANCE ON SANTA MARIA. 

AVe lay on the fields at Bocaue; 

The night was waning' away, 
A\'e knew on the wings of the morning 

Our line would move on to the fray. 
We knew on the wings of the morning 

Spirits of friends and of foe, 
Would float o'er the smoke of the battle 

Wherever death summonses go. 

Would spirits released hover o 'er us % 

Would they hear the roar of the fray? 
Would they know and grapple together? 

Whoever shall know or can say. 
AVe heard the tramp of our columns 

Crossing the sun-baked fields, 
We heard the whiz of the night-birds, 

And the jingling jink of the steels. 

We heard the artillery coming, 
Down on the graveled road; 

A rumble like distant thunder 
In upper air's abode. 

Moaning low in the night breeze 
The slender bamboos toss, 



30 Advance on Santa Maria 

Over our sleeping columns, 
Under the Southern Cross. 

No bugle call awakes us— 

We're up by night and away, 
Ere stars in the skies above us 

Go twinkling out to the day. 
We're out and in line of battle. 

We're watching the wood ahead, 
We wait for the march of the morning. 

That streaks the sky with red. 

The big guns thunder at daybreak; 

Their chilled steel bolts are swift. 
They tell the foe in the city 

The American lines are adrift. 
They crash thro' twenty house-tops. 

They break the strong stone walls, 
They hurry the half-dressed thousands 

Out of their bamboo stalls. 

There's the hustle and bustle of panic, 

Over the dusty way, 
Their bull -carts break by the roadside 

That leads to San Jose ; 
There's the pleading cry of the childi'en, 

The prayer of mother and maid, 



Advance on Santa Maria 31 

There's the curse of the heathen warrior — 
The gashes the shells have made. 

Our line moves over the prairie ; 

We ford the river in haste, 
The shorts go in to the shirt-tops, 

The longs go in to the waist. 
We know when we see their trenches 

There's something to take and to give, 
And minutes we lose on the rice-field 

Will lessen our chances to live. 

Our line moves on o 'er the paddies ; 

We drop at a thousand yards, 
And send a thousand ounce bullets 

As a gift to the enemy's guards. 
We charge in the wind-chased smoke cloud 

All dripping with water and mud. 
We stumble in sharp-staked pitfalls, 

We spatter the ground with blood. 

We're over their earthen breastworks, 
We're under the red rose-oak, 

* ' No carie combate ! Amigo ! ' ' 

They shout thro' the din and the smoke. 

We're on and beyond the city. 
The reserve comes up behind, 



32 • Advance on Santa Maria 



We know when their work is finished, 
The town will be blown to the wind. 

We look to the mountains beyond us, 

Alive with the homeless folk. 
We look to the city behind us 

And see it go up in smoke. 
And who is to pay the damage? 

Our lives are free to mend 
Rents in our starry banner 

The God of Battle must send. 

If the price be a life we'll give it. 

Either on land or on sea ; 
If the price be a nation's honor. 

The strong 'st best let us be. 
Far over the wind-whipped ocean 

We'll shout our liberties cheer, 
While we're civilizing the natives 

With Bible, bullets and beer. 



Railroad Patrol 



RAILROAD PATROL. 

Patrol in' on the railroad 

In the middle of the night, 
Was a work I never cared about; 

I never thought it rig-ht 
To send, three men a hikin' 

For three miles up the track. 
And never get a minute's rest. 

Till they hiked the three miles back. 

One night was dark and cloudy, 

They starts the third relief, 
And I had drawn to first place 

And trembled like a leaf; 
For it was life and it was death, 

No reck which way you went. 
If I'd offered my head at auction 

You wouldn't have bid a cent. 

Less than a mile to north of us 

The enemy lay thick, 

And often as Ave tramped along 

We heard the breach-bolt click. 
Ai:d often as we marched along 

A whizzmg spear went by. 
Ye' no one knew from whence it came 

Nor where the enemy lie. 



34 Railroad Patrol 

There was field to either side of us 

And gloomy woodland, too, 
And nip a huts in lines along 

Where Spanish roads went through. 
And here the fields swept to the track, 

And there the bamboo w^eaves 
Its dainty net-work overhead 

All interlocked with leaves. 



We tramped the three miles up the track 

All silent as could be, 
We tramped the three miles half way back 

And stopped most suddenly. 
And I was leadin' the patrol 

My heart rose up in pain, 
And struggled hard to free itself 

And then beat down again. * 

We all dropped down between the rails 

And lie there as if dead, 
And watched the enemy's line go by 

Scarce twenty yards ahead. 
Company after company 

In single file the foe, 
Loomed up like Satan's dusl^ band 

As over and on they go. 



kailroad Patrol 35 



We all hugged to the dumb leak ties 

A wishin' we was one, 
I never mind 0' breathin' till 

Their line had passed and gone. 
But was thinkin' of the mischief 

That they were sure to make, 
Down in the town of BuUican 

Before the night would break. 

Was thinkin' of the pleasantness 

Of being caught by them. 
And spitted on the live bamboo 

And left or boloed then; 
Or gagged and tied and staked across 

The field-ants porus nest. 
Or whipped beneath a beastly load— 

With never a minute's rest. 

We didn't mind the fightin' 

Ner tarantulas black an ' hairy, 
We didn't mind night out-post 

For that was necessary. 
We didn't mind the starvin' 

Nor sun, nor rain, nor blow. 
But we kicked on night patrolin' — 

It lacked the ghost of a show. 



36 Ani's Nesi 



ANT'S NEST. 

Tt was a wearx' outpost— ca me in at five 

A. M.. 
Marching like a carabou in a inuddj^ fen ; 
We, tlie Aveary ontpost, steering in like 

monks. 
Found tlie Company ^^ patrol sleeping in 

onr bunks. 



Then the Corporal swore an oath clad in 

steel and lead. 
Stamped around and found a hump and on 

it laid his head; 
Sleep had closed his weary eyes just about 

a minute, 
AVhen that hump begaji to move— for there 

was something in it. 

A roaring oath, a whorl of dust, a blue shirt 

in the air. 
A pounding, striking, brushing, biting in 

his beard and hair. 
The weary outpost stood aghast, didn't 

know 'but ''Doby" 



/Int's Ugs^ 37 



ll;t(l been bittoM nnd the bite s:a.ve him hy- 
drophobe. 

When tlie fight was over a.nd his clothes 

wei-e on the ground, 
Said lie, "That's near'st bein' licked I ever 

was first round ; 
1 don't believe in niakin' out— but, by the 

the millions dead — 
ir 1 had had another round. I'm sure I'd 

lost my head." 

.N'ow the moral of this ditty is as plain as 

any g*host, 
Be (careful where you lay your head when 

you come in off post. 
'I'arantulas and centipedes may crawl alorit^; 

your pants. 
But they are nothing when compared with 

a little nest of ants. 



38 At Maraquena 



AT MARAQUENA. 

Our lino had rested on the field, 
Our picket guards were out; 

The weary stretched out on the ground, 
The strong sat round about. 

And some were smoking wheezy pipes, 
And some were chewing beetle, 

And some were swapping old time lies, 
And some resumed to whittle. 

The rain in torrents fell on us. 

And wet us to the bone; 
And filled the paddies to the brim:— 

It made us think of home. 

And all the ridges on the field 
Swarmed thick with biting ants, 

That crawled in at our leggin' tops 
And up our brown-duck pants. 

The wounded groaned in open field, 
The strong swore with a. zeal, 

The bull-train stuck a league to rear, 
And could n 't move a wheel. 



Ai Mataquena 39 



And all the privates swore galore, 
Because there was no bread ; 

When suddenly a volley flew — 
Close o'er our Major's head. 

The outposts rush in through the slush, 

With tale of lurking foe; 
x\nd every man forgot his pain, 

When the order came to go. 

It 's hustle up with gun and belt 

And get into the line, 
We all can march without a torch 

When mausers sing so fine. 

And out we marched by companies, 

And halted all in a row; 
And then the Major's voice rang out — 

''Fore- ward— guide center— Ho!" 

And down we marched toward a wood 
From whence their volleys flew, 

We heard them calling: ''Yankee dogs 
Come down, we'll fight with you." 

"We'll bind you here and stake you there 
And leave you for the crows, 



40 At Maraquena 



The mouk, the ape, the boa-snake, 
Shall roost in your empty clothes." 

And then their whistling shot flew high 

And cut the tops of trees, 
And then their whistling balls flew down 

And sizzed low in the breeze. 

And some were steel and some were brass 

And some were ricochet. 
And some were slugs from half-inch rods 

That flew along our way. 

We stretched our line across the draw 

Till it connected through. 
Then waited for their rifles light 

To make our volleys true. 

The mountain air was crisp and chill, 

Our khaki suits were thin, 
But little we reck the price of a neck 

When duty calls tls in. 

Our eager eyes search through the dark, 

Our anxious fingers tip 
The triggers of four-hundred guna 

\\^v\<\. close againii- the hip. 



Al Mat aquena 41 

A full moun' burst the rain-clouds througii, 

And put our line in sight, 
When lo! They fled and we were left 
Ti) battle with the ni^ht. 



42 The Frisongr 



THE PRISONER. 

In a jungle deep, on a river road, 

A bullock-man stretched out on top of his 

load. 
Then blue smoke curled from his great 

cigar, 
As he gazed at the heavens and thought of 

the war. 
The caribou grazed in the rice-fields near. 
And the soldier's mind ran free from fear; 
From mud and mire, from blood and sun, 
Thoughts journeyed away as a brook doth 

run. 

But his home lay bare before his face, 
And his mind ran over that grand old place ; 
From a mother's corner so cozy and neat. 
To the icicled window and pane of sleet, 
To a brother building a trench of snow, 
And a sister storming the works with a hoe; 
For all these things he had heard before, 
And his thoughts sped on from the scenes 
of war. 

As murmur is murmur, or death is death, 



The Prisoner 43 



A sudden soiiDd from his eyes all cleft ; 
He clutches his rifle— and up from the dells, 
Came a whorl of fire, and whits and yells. 
And one not hardened to things like these. 
Must shake for his life, and shoot to the 
breeze. 



But the trooper was brave and fearlessly 

led, 
And fought with his comrades till they were 

dead; 
And he was wounded in head and hand. 
And lay as a corpse on the blood-stained 

sand; 
AA^hile the great black mass came on with a 

rush. 
He heard a gurgle, a groan or gush. 
And prayed to the God— Who gives and 

ends. 
To hurry his life out along with his friends. 

The native warriors plundered the carts. 
And chopped up his comrades and ate their 

hearts ; 
And he must hear and see and wait. 
The whirl of the bolo to settle his fate: 



^"^ The Prisoner 



But Llic brown chief saw— Uu'uuuJi the dull 

moon light. 
The trooper's eyes— live coals in the nioht 
He came, and then in a deep voice said? 
''Guard this man as the eye in the head!'' 
Bind up his wounds and brino- hi,n forth. 
That we may leai-n of troops in the Noi-th." 

All day he traveled and packed a load. 
Thro' a lonely pass on a mountain road; 
And ever and on, these words ran clear 
-Sigg-ie" ! ''Siggie" ! Hissed out in his ear. 
'Hurry! Hurry! we give thee life. 
So long as you clear frAm the point of the 
knife." 



At last they emerged from ih^ wooded hills. 

To a broad low ]ilain. full of fever and 
chills: 

Wliei'c the crocodile feeds in the scum- 
bound slews. 

And natives drink bino to drive out the 
blues; 

Where cane-fields nod where the winds kiss 
thro', 

Lifting the leaves and the morning: dew. 



The Prisoner 45 



In the streets of the city of Balaoug, 
The trooper rested his load on a log : 
And the forked pains in his head and back, 
AVere halted now that the straps were slack : 
And all the villagers flocked to see. 
The bearded giant from beyond the sea. 

They have taken liis gannents and sold tlioin 

out, 
And left him clothed in a nipa clout : 
And the white skin burned to a crimson red. 
When a tropical sun shone over head. 
But the natives laughed and mocked his 

pain, 
As they hurried him on o'er the sun-baked 

plain. 
The blood print is soon upon the sod. 
Where foot of the wretched trooper trod. 

And his heart turns dumb to pain and fear. 
As he sees the blue-shirts far, far to the 

rear : 
Their shouts are muffled, their volleys seein, 
To rise in the mists of some devilish dream. 
And the red skin peels to the bolo stroke. 
And the red stream follows each bayonet 

poke, 



46 The Prisoner 



As on to the mountain pass they steer, 
\> ith— siggie, siggie, hissed out in his ear. 

In a jungle deep, by a river road, 
The trooper rested his head on his load: 
But his mind was filled with cruel pains, 
And he looked for a rifle to blow out his 

brains. 
For he knew no succor would ever ride, 
Thro ' the mountain trails where the robbers 

hide. 
The great queen beetle wheels over the rice. 
And the air is filled with fire and spice : 
But all that beauty was dumb and blind. 
To a trooper brave, with a ruined mind. 

As he gazed to the distant twinkling skies, 
A fuzzy black mass hung over his eyes ; 
That dropping straight from a moss-grown 

teak, 
Fastened its fangs in the trooper's cheek. 

Without a shudder, a groan or cry, 

A prayer went forth to his God on high, 

A prayer of joy— in death or life, 

Of a soul released from a Hell-bound strife. 

The poison struck at the struggling life, 



The Prisoner 47 



As the heart's fount follows the plimsre of 

a knife; 
And the trooper's soul at the dead of night, 
Went out on the winds in its upward flight. 

who shall tell, as the years roll on. 

His mother dear— where her son has gone: 

And who shall say but the birds that fly, 

And circle and sing in the tropical sky, 

That life and honor stand first of all. 

In a soldier's death for his country's call. 



45 The Mnni/a Guard 



THE MANILA GUARD. 

Come list to the lay of h Provost Guard 
As he travels around liis beat. 

He's at home and abroad in ninety-nine 
"Rut he's sino-ing of ninety-eight. 

When his word was jiood as a pension clieek. 

And a brass ''scale wei<>ht" as gold,* 
And any name was grood as his 

For all the grog-shop sold. 

AA^hen five in gold brought twelve in Mex., 

And double-eagles fifty. 
When Monte games were on the street — 

Hi ! But guards were tlirifty. 

When Monte playing in the street 

AVas hard against the law, 
The guards raked many a Paso in— 

The officers never saw. 

AVhen we were watchin' barrels o' wine 

AVay down beyond the quay, 
AA^e used to fill our canteens up 

And coolly walk away. 

AVhen we were lord of all the town 
AVe went just where we chose, 



The Manila Guard 49 

And none dared ask the reason why 
AVe searched among his clothes. 

And none dared ask the reason wh> 
AVe drank their best old wine, 

And never even thanking them 
Or saying it was fine. 

We payed them all in pantomine, 
AYhieh made them understand— 

That if they said a word we'd rip 
Them up as countraband. 

But now its mighty different, 

They've cut us down to zero, 
And all the Bud-weiser we get, 

We plank down the Denero. "t 

Now all the Dons well understand— 

And all the Chenos. too. 
The way to cut us quickly off 

From the tricks we used to do. 

The secret lies in knowing how 

To tell our officers 
Just how their guards have overrun 

Their privilege of affairs. 

*Sonie of the natives exchang^ed fruit for small 
brass weig-hts, thinkino^ them American gold. 
fMoney. 



50 Ballad of an Army Oven 



BALLAD OF AN ARMY OVEN. 

Our company never had much to do 
'Xcept to work. 

And that all day and all ni^ht, too» 
In boilin' sun and dark and dew. 
Seemed like the officei^ never cared 
Much how we bloomin' privates fared: 
But what was in their minds all day— 
Was keepin' the men to work some way. 

I was mighty sick o' patrol: 

And was thinkin' how 

To get out o' answerin' roll 

Call. An' better 'n all 

How to g:et out o' doin' truard: 

For twenty-four hours was mighty hard : 

Besides a man's apt to lose his sleep. 

And can't make it up for more 'n a week. 

'* Don't know where to find a man," 

Our Sergeant sez. 

"Of course I'll do the best I can, 

"We're dyin' for old time Yankee *pan': 

"And the oven shall be built for you, 

"If it costs the company a shiner or two." 



Ballad of an Army Oven 51 



J ) 



An' I sit on a mahogany log 
With eyes and ears 
Wide open as a terrier dog 
A' huntin' moles in a mossy bogg. 
"What's that? An oven-Kahoolawe- 
'' Perhaps I could build it— let me see. 
Then the cook sez : '' On Calle Chague* 
"I learned of a nigger mason today." 
''You'll find him around the market place 
''He's a loAV built duck with a scar on his 
face." 

An' straight the Sergeant started away: 

An' I jumps up 

An' ran to catch him an' sez: "Say, 

"I'd like to inquire if I may— 

"Did you say you wanted an oven built ^ 

"That's my profession silver and gilt; 

"I make all things out o' brick or stone; 

"From basement up to steeple an' dome; 

"Can save you money— an' then — 

" It 's better to pay it to one o ' the men. ' ' 

"Why, sure," said he. "Your just the 

man"— 
"What '11 you take?" 
I though a while— then sez: "I ken— 



52 Ballad of an Afmy Oven 

"With the help o' two or three other men, 
''Do the whole dern job for a shiner; 
''Build it strong- an' a good deal finer 
"Than a nigger 'd do." An' he sez: 

"AVell 
"That's a bargain. I'll go tell 
"Cap. An' I'll see the "Top" for yon, 
"He'll set you off duty a week or two." 

So in a thrice the bargain was made: 
An' I set to work, 

With pick an' hoe an' shovel an' spade, 
A levelin' off a place by the wall, 
An ' a thinkin ' how in the devil 'n all 
To build the thing. By all that's lean 
An oven was somethin' I'd never seen. 
AVhile I was thinkin' over my "snap," 
Somethin ' gave my shoulder a slap : 
A familiar voice rang in my ear — 
I knowed 'thout lookin' Cap was near. 

I drops my shovel : stood straight in the 

yoke, 
An' Cap he spoke: 
"What are you up to, schemin' lout, 
"What the duce are ye about, 
"Do you want the company to pay for this, 
' ' It seems to me enough that ye miss 



Ballad of an Army Oven 53 

"Retreat an' doiii' guard: AYhat if the 

work be rough, 
"Don't the government pay ye enough? 
"At this stage of the game you ought to 

know 
"We need your profession. And so 
"I'll detail you to build the oven." 
Ge! But didn't he say that lovin'! 
An' turned on his heel an' left just then, 
Mad as a banty settin' hen. 

An' I stood still for a minute or two, 

A lookin' blue: 

An' waitin' till the boys got through 

Guyin' me. Onesez: "Oh-ho 

"You will tell us all you know— 

"Get down and dig, there's nothin' finer, 

"We'll turn out and help you spend your 

Shiner. ' ' 
An' the cook he sez: "If I was you, 
"I'd be in no hurry 'bout gettin' through." 
An' I sez— quick as the boys went out: — 
"That's just what I've been thinkin* 

about." 

So I worked on for a week or two. 

And no one knew 

What en earth I was up to : 



54 Ballad of an Army Oven 

A ridin' out around the town, 
Locatin' brick an' stone: an' down 
In the Alhambra : an' what I lost, 
I added to what the bricks had cost. 
An' the company payed it 'thout a kick: 
An' next day I bought a few more brick. 

An' I rid about for days an' days, 

In various ways, 

A buyin' sand an' lime an' stays; 

First on the Luneta and then in Binondo, 

Through the Walled City and out to Tondo : 

Down to Malate and thro' Santa Cruiz, 

Out to San Polock and thro ' San Luiz : 

Through San Megiel, Ermeta and Paco,— 

In all my meanderings steered clear of 

Queipo. 
An' always stoppin' at noon each day. 
At the old hotel— La Oriente. 

The oven was built of stone and brick, 

A foot thick 

On sides and bottom. But the trick 

Of coverin' it over bothered me: 

Finally I struck on the i'd 

Of a piece of iron, square-like, see— 

A hole in one corner for a chimble, 

There was no doubt ' twould work to a " T ; " 



Ballad of an Army Oven 55 

An' I remembered that in the Freola,** 
Was iron enough to build a gondola. 

So got permission : went in one day, 

An ' hauled away 

A piece of steel— the boj^s all say 

Weighed a ton. 'Twas just the checker, 

Made her look like a double-decker; 

I built the chimble higher than the wall, 

An' piled on sand an' stone an' all 

Was ready. We piled in coal an' wood, 

An ' soon found out her draft was good. 

An' all the boys were happy as clams, 

A thinkin' of pies an' puddins an' yams: 

Among all companies far an' near, 

As an oven builder I hadn't a peer. 

An the cook's detail was kneadin' bread 

Enough to last two days ahead. 

But in the mornin' the cook took note,— 
The steel had warped up like a boat, 
An' bricks an' chimney had fallen in, 
Where the raised loaves ought to have been : 
An' the cussin' I got I'll always remember, 
Down in Manila one morn in November, 
I learned how man's reputation may 
Rise an' fall in a single day. 
*Chog--way Street. **Shipyard. 



56 Ballad of the Battle of Beno Tower 



BALLAD OF THE BATTLE OF BENO 
TOWER. 

There is many a battle recorded 

In letters of crimson and gold, 
And thousands of stories are hoarded, 

Because of the glory they hold; 
But battle or legend or story. 

There is none can equal in part. 
This tale of a row on the Chogue, 

That flows from a veteran's heart. 

The city was wrapped in her night robe, 

All sounds were drifting to sleep. 
Save the roll of the tide in the Pasig, 

And tramp of a sentry on beat ; 
But unseen f oemen were watching 

From house top and from wall, 
For a light in the Beno Tower— 

A signal when all should fall. 

They meant to fall on the sentries 
And cut them down in the street. 

Then rush the principal barracks 
And bolo our troops while asleep. 

But the ear of the watch had discovered, 



Ballad of the Battle of Beno Tower 57 

And every soldier knew, 
Of devilish plot for booty 
Contrived by villainous crew. 

The guard on the street was doubled, 

The guards on the bridge were three ; 
And one must watch from the center, 

With his rifle cocked on his knee. 
Still as the walls at Paco 

The crowded city grew, 
AYhen a light flashed down from the Tower, 

Blood-red through the dark and the dew. 

A flash, and a ball fleAv skyward, 

Ciitting the dumb night air, 
Tearing from shell to mortar, 

Singing the natives' hair. 
But the flame still pierced the darkness, 

And every foeman knew — 
But stopped at the crack of the rifle. 

Perplexed. What should they do % 

They had not long to wonder, 

They had not long to wait, 
For the roar of guns in the Chogue, 

Soon sealed their hard earned fate. 
They tremble to think of the future, 



58 Ballad of the Battle of Beno Tower 

Lest apprehended they be, 
How life would be drawn in the dungeon 
Or black-hole caves of the sea. 

And they longed to shift their quarters 

But dared not move a hand, 
Cool balistrade they longed to trade 

For a place on a catamaran. 
AA^here sea-birds cry to each other, 

And free waves foam at the rails. 
Where free winds laden with perfume 

Tighten the bamboo sails. 

They prayed to the God of darkness, 

They shook from heads to feet, 
AVould rather than loot be a bandicoot, 

And burrow beneath the street : 
Prayed for power of breath and look 

Of gilding basilisk. 
Then cursed all things alive or dead, 

And laughed at the loss of a risk. 

The fight down on the Chogue 

Raged like a racing sea. 
The guards from seven quarters 

Cross-fired the guards from three; 
The tower was shot to ribbons, 



Ballad of the Battle of Beno Tower 59 



The light was snuffled from the wick, 
And the row was settled as handy 
And straight as a burro can kick. 

All night was a black-robed terror, 
But blacker still was the day 

For the niggers— when caught in the round- 
up- 
Had a tolerable debt to pay. 

As Solomon read the roses, 

The guards must read the face. 
For look of truth from guilt forsooth, 

Is marked in every race. 
But not in humane history 

Did ever guards bring in, 
;More thorough clinkered graduates 

From schools of heathen sin. 



60 Ballad of the Tondo Fire 



BALLAD OF THE TONDO FIRE. 

Blood-red ! Blood-red ! The sipmal fled 

To East and AVest and South, 
The natives saw their roofs of straw 

Glowing- as g:lows Hells-mouth: 
The natives knew its meaning', too, 

It cut their hearts in twain; 
They learn the cost from Avhat they lost. 

In a mile of solid flame. 

The roaring flames are like the roar 

Of a hundred racing trains; 
The bamboo peps fi^om heat and drops, 

As drops the tropic rains: 
The draught nuist make the whirlwind take 

The flying nipa high, 
AVhere through the night with blood-red 
light, 

It burns against the sky. 

Their soldiers creep from street to street, 

'Tis bold we must agree, 
They call the guard but gates are barred 

In front of Company C. 
They call the Captain of the Guard, 



Ballad of the Tondo Fire 61 

He answers straight and swift; 
One hundred rifle balls flew down. 
To set their souls adrift. 

A piercing scream cuts thro' the blast 

AVhere a sweep of steel has gone. 
And bellowing roar of tortured beasts. 

Steals over the city till dawn : 
AVith oaths and yells, with guns and bells, 

The Tondo of filth and mire, — 
Swift as a typhoon on the seas, — 

Goes up in the flood of fire. 

Their soldiers fall beside the wall. 

And lie there thro' the night, 
The bullets whit while niggers get 

Beyond the line of light: 
But foe must stop where'er they drop. 

The Springfield balls are sure, 
Their weight is fair, the holes they tear, 

Must make the body pure. 

Above the bells in Queipo Square, 

I watch the whirling race, 
The black and blue where flames stab thro'. 

The blood-red at the base ; 
The jet-black cloud high in the sky, 



62 Ballad oj the Tondo Fire 

The anxioiLs hordes below. 
If the wind should blow from the north I 
trow, 
The city must surely go. 

But a land breeze blew the cloud away, 

Far out across the bay, 
And the mornin*>' lit^ht broke thro' the night 

From the mountains far away ; 
And the mother calls to the blackened walls, 

But the lost cannot be found. 
And the cheno sifts in the fleshless drift. 

While the sentr>^ tramps the round. 



The Outpost 63 



THE OUTPOST. 

Land of eternal spring: 
A garden vast and wild, 

Bathed in a mountain breeze, 
A tropical verdure smiled. 

The song of busy birds 

Come forth t'roin every nook. 

And lisping on the breeze 

Come murmurs from the brook. 

And misty ciris clouds 

Float here and there and on, 
They crown each mountain peak 

They linger— and are gone. 

Across the terraced fields, 

The cuskoo calls alone; 
Beyond the wooded ridge, 

The land is not our own. 

For the Insurgents keep, 

Their camp fires burning bright. 
They're dreaming all the day, 

And marching all the night. 



64 The Outpost 



Around deserted homes, 

Ripe cane and tall corn wave, 

And swine and poultry feed 
From many a shallow grave. 

Beneath the man^^os shade, 
From boAvlder cool and brown, 

I watch the distant fields, 
Up rugged slope and down. 



Ballad of the North Line 65 

BALLAD OF THE NORTH LINE. 

There's never a place in all the world 

So written in my heart, 
There's never a wind between the worlds 

Can drift ns far apart: 
There's never a thoiio-ht in all the world 

So stamped upon my mind, 
As place and thought of battles fought — 

Three thousand leagues behind. 

We went out to Caloocan loaded down with 
lead. 

We went thro' her burning streets tramp- 
ing o'er the dead; 

We went on to Malabon waist-deep in a 
slew, 

Had to hold the wounded up and use our 
rifles, too. 

How the bullets whistled by — 

Hi ! The privates swore, 

That was out to Malabon with the brave 
Eight Corps. 

We went on to Mareloa ; stopped a few at 

Polo, 
Amigos flew with all they had— a caribou 

and bolo : 



66 Ballad of the North Line 



But left a few soldados in the ditches here 

and there, 
With a bullet thro' their thorax and the 

field ants in their hair. 

We drove 'em at the dayliorht ; we watched 

'em thro' the niizht, 
By the fires of their Peublas they were fools 

enough to light. 
The crimson in the south sky tells the North 

Line all that 's ncAV, 
And the blood-red in the north sky tells the 

South Line what to do. 
While the great lights in the harbor keep a 

chasing thro' the sky. 
Talking to each other on the clouds that 

hustle by. 

We fought 'em by the river, they were forty 

to our one. 
But they dropped away to twenty 'fore they 

took the hint to run. 
We fought 'em at Bocaue and drove ^em 

past Bigaa, 
Of course it was a bitter way o' teachin' 

them the law; 
But we found there was no other way so 



Ballad of the North Line 67 

simple and so strong, 
And the Filipino Indian was learnin' right 
along. 

We routed them at BuUican ; they tried to 

burn the bridge, 
And we caught 'em with our longtoms long 

before they made the ridge; 
We drove 'em past Guiguinto : It was an 

awful sight, 
Te see our men a dyin' in the depot there 

that night. 
AVay up at Santa Ysabel we had to lose a 

few ; 
The wood was lined with trenches there, that 

bunched us to get through. 
But we drove 'em from their stronghold as 

we'd always done before, 
And Sundayed at IMalolos with the luckys 

of the corps. 

Of course there was a buryin' squad along 

o' the reserve. 
But when it come to diggin' pits they 

didn't care to serve: 
So they dumped them in the river and they 

floated out to sea, 



68 Ballad of the North Line 

'Twas a harvest for the Chinamen that 

OAATied the soap factory. 
And some that lay out on the fields they 

carried at their ease, 
And burned upon the rice-stacks to kill the 

dread disease. 



We went on to Calumpit— 'twas an ugly 

place,— 
Lines of trenches everywhere that stared us 

in the face : 
And pitfalls that were covered o'er with 

nipa, sticks and hay. 
And every gill of earth they'd dug they'd 

carried far away. 
You scarce could tell the bloomin' things 

they looked so like the ground, 
But if 3'ou 've ever fell in one you know best 

what you found. 

On the level fields at Quingaa some found a 

dusty grave; 
We had to lose a Colonel that was bravest 

of the brave, 
In the swamps at Santa Thomas, in the hills 

at Nazagara, 



Ballad of the North Line 69 



We had to lose a comrade here and there 
along our way. 

Up at San Isidro while marchino: round the 

swamp 
We met 'em every morning and had our 

usual romp ; 
With old Arriat behind us and old Arriat 

ahead, 
We kept marching thro' the jungle that 

we'd cleared with screaming lead. 

Heard the monkeys chatter from the 

branches at the dawn, 
Heard the cuckoo calling up the timid 

spotted fawn; 
Heard the bullets kissing thro' the great 

banana leaves, 
Slept to dream that we were home beneath 

parental eaves. 

The North Line's at Fernando and the 

South Line's at the Lake, 
Their boys can tell the stories of the towns 

they had to take; 
Their boys can tell the stories of the blood 

and dust and sun, 



70 Ballad of the North Line 

While the glory of their triumphs are re- 
corded one by one. 

While the glory of their triumphs far do^^^l 
the ages rings, 

You 11 always know an Eighth Corps lad 
for this is what he sings. 

There's never a place in all the world 

So written in my heart, 
There's never a wind between the worlds 

Can drift us far apart : 
There's never a thought in all the world 

So stamped upon my mind. 
As place and thought of battle fought 

Three thousand leagues behind. 



Roast Pork 71 



ROAST PORK. 

Camped out on San Tolon road 

Watching for the foe, 
Lounging in and out of camp 

From dawn till evening's glow; 
Woods were full of chicken, 

Carabou and kine. 
But all our dusty palates craved 

Was devil-so uled swine. 

So when the scouts Avent out by day 

To hunt the wily nig. 
They killed and dressed and brought to 
camp 

A little spotted pig; 
We roasted him upon the coals 

And ate him to the ears, 
His bones made a burnt offering 
To dry the owner's tears. 

Then an order came to camp 

From farther up the line. 
It read: ''Beware! Don't kill or eat 

The nigrger-fattened swine. 
For he is what the buzzard is!" 



72 Roast Pork 



Our Major said. " 'Tis plain 
He eats the late killed carrion — 
The bodies on the plain." 

And then we knew and understood 

That droves of Chinese hogs, 
Had rifled all the shallow graves, 

The which we'd laid to dogs. 
This story is as straight as Job, 

As historic as Latin, 
The hogs were fattened on the flesh 

That thev were meant to fatten. 



Night Outpost 73 



NIGHT OUTPOST. 

The night was dark as a dungeon ! 

The outposts all were new, 
Singled out in the jungle 

AVith Pilars border crew; 
And mine was on the highway 

Under a bread-fruit tree, 
I could hear the drone of the beetle, 

The voice of a lone ' ' pukme. ' ' 

The jungle was thick and thorny, 

And full of tropical life, 
Snakes with the deadly venom, 

Men with the whetted knife. 
Wild dogs— skinny and scabby, 

Hogs with tusks to tear, 
But worse than all— them niggers— 

They seemed to be everywhere. 

I lay pinched on the road-bed, 
Afraid to breathe or stir, 

I listened to the brush crack, 

And the night-bird's mystic whirr. 

I heard the ripe fruit falling 
Do\^Ti to the ground with a thud, 



74 . Night Outpost 

I heard the buffaloes rolling 
In their wallows of mud. 

A thousand thoughts per minute, 

Each brought a deady fear, 
Thought of the whizzing bolo, 

Pains from the poisoned spear. 
Something always told me 

That in the dead of night, 
AYas time enough for dreaming, 

But never a time to fight. 

]\ry eyes search out the darkness 

While temple pains shoot thro', 
I watch a tile of warriors 

From Pilar 's border crew. 
In company front I see them, 

And then in single file. 
In sets of four I loose them 

From my vision's dial. 

A visionary army 

Seemed closing round our camp 
I listened to the murmur, 

I Iieard the muffled tramp ; 
The iiiinutes all were hours, 

The hours all were days; 



Night Outpost 75 



And the task of doing outpost 
May be told in various ways. 

I started ! 'Tis the enemy ! 

A hot breath reached my cheek, 
It chilled me to the marrow : 

I scarce could move or speak. 
But turned my head to leeward, 

And there t'wixt me and sky, 
Some giant monster told me 

My time had come to die. 

Two fiery eyes glared into mine 

With a hellish-opal glow, 
And the fetid breath that reached my face, 

Was worse than the fumes below. 
If I had opened my lungs to it, 

I had died a wind-whipped flame. 
But truth in war is the open scar, 

Not ballads that sing of fame. 

I moved my gun around to port 

To fill the thing with lead, 
When tusks a pair shot through the air 

Close range above my head. 
Grim duty flashed upon me, 

My fear had gone apace, 



"6 Night Outpost 



I thrust my glistening bayonet 
Hard into empty space. 

I fired twice: a wild boar fell 

And struggled hard to death; 
I felt a rare uneasiness 

A breathing minus breath. 
The guard came running up to see— 

One says, ''He's killed, be dod— !* 
A bread fruit struck me on the head 

And landed me in nod. 



The Filipino Indian 77 



THE FILIPINO INDIAN* 

We have many roving Indians at home, 

From Alaska to the sunny Cocoa Keys, 
And your lucky in a squabble all alone 
If you haven't mixed with any worse 'n 
these. 
They will ever stand for beino: friend or 
foe, 
And are brave as any warrior black or 
white, 
When they're warin' they will always let 
you know 
So that you may have a half a show to 
fight. 

But the Filipino Indian he's full of gum- 

a-lac. 
He's an India-rubber gimmie-cane when 

he's behind your back; 
And he's king of kings of cowards when the 

sun is in his face, 
And for higher kings of liars there's no 

other in the race. 

He is always nuoy pobre** and he's much 
amigof too, 



78 The FilipUio Indian 

He tells his lie so earnestly the guards will 

let him through; 
For they're sorry for a nigger with a sick 

and starvin' wife, 
And they give him half their rations just to 

save his darlin's life. 
He takes all that you give him and he lugs 

it to his friends, 
They eat and laugh together in their wooded 

mountain dens ; 
Remember boys it's double-sin to give the 

sumphs a straw, 
It's a comfort to the enemy and that's 

agin' the law. 

the Filipino Indian he's full of schemin' 

ways. 
You'll never get the Injin truth in anything 

he says; 
He's past the art of teachin' for he thinks 

his way is best. 
And he'll always be an Indian no matter 

how he's blest. 

He greets you in the mornin' with a bow 

that's long and low, 
And he says in hearty accents, '^Magan- 

dungarapopo;"$ 



The Filipino Indian 79 

And you think of a coyote as you watch 

him sneakin' past; 
For every slidin' glance he gives you think 

will be the last. 
He's friendly in the morning and he's busy 

thro ' the day, 
And every sack of rice he gets he'll carry 

far awa}^; 
You'd think he was the truest friend and 

wouldn 't deign to fight, 
Remember boys he's got a gun and he'll 

come out at night. 

there's no fool like an old fool, his id's 

always stick, 
You can beat and kill an old dog but you 

can 't teach him a trick. 
And the Filipino heathen in his house up in 

a tree, 
Says: "I'll chance the God my father had: 

He 's good enough for me. ' ' 

He takes a drachm of beno and chews the 

beetle, too, 
He don't believe a word you say unless he 

knows it's true; 
He's suspicious of all creatures no matter 

what their place, 



80 The Filipino Indian 

And he thinks the bloomin' white man is a 

hood-wink on his race. 
You'll find him quick as ligtning, in wit he 

doesn't lack, 
You can always find a bolo up his sleeve or 

down his back: 
And when you learn to know him you'll be 

sorry for his lot, 
For a caribou and bolo are the only friends 

he's got. 

the Filipino Indian ! He'll full of chow- 
chow bark. 

He's an ugly thing to handle when you 
meet him in the dark, 

And he's king of kings of cowards when the 
sun is in his face, 

And for higher king of liars there's no 
other in the race. 

^Referring to the uncivilized tribes. 
**Very poor. 
tOood friend. 
|Good morning. 



Specior of Lolomboy 81 



SPECTOR OF LOLOMBOY. 

I stood on guard at the Western Gate 

That faced toward the sea, 
And wondered if that sweet song I heard 

Would ever come back to me. 
I watched the pale moon climbing up 

High in the midnight sky, 
And all the field was lighted up 

With a spectral light there by. 

I watched the shadows on the grass; 

Some seemed to shift about. 
And one grey pile I centered on 

And tried to reason out. 
The wind blew free from tree to tree. 

It sang a ''devil's dirge," 
It drew the robes of spirit night 

Around me like a scourge. 

When first we came to Lolomboy 

We made a gruesome find 
In bones and skulls and skeletons— 

The chapel floor was lined. 
Men had died from ghastly wounds, 

And some from want of care, 



82 Specto r of Lolo m b oy 

For no man either black or white 

Had dared to venture there 
Since we had passed, in hickory haste, 

Driving the dusky foe, 
As a cold northwest Dakota wind 

Drives o'er the frozen snow. 

For sixty miles a running' fight 

And now a rest we sought, 
Within the walls of Lolomboy— 

A cool and breezy spot. 
Oh, sixty miles of mud and slush. 

Of dust and dirt and sun, 
Was just the thing for soldier boys 

With Tinos on the run. 

I knew the bones of twenty men 

Were piled along yon pass. 
Where all the bleaching sun-scorched skulls 

Grinned at us thro' the grass. 
I knew the day we piled them there 

We'd multiplied our sins. 
By setting femers up on end. 

And playing at nine-pins. 
With five in Mex. up on each side 

We rolled the skulls away. 
And I was winner of the prize 

On that eventful day. 



Spector of Lolomboy 83 

I watched the gray pile in the grass, 

It seemed to writhe and work, 
As if it were the tri-compound 

Of spirit, sprite and spirk. 
And then a ghastly form stood up 

And walked toward the wall, 
Followed true by a bony crew, 

All naked slim and tall. 
The first called thro' a tongueless mouth, 

And twirled a fleshless arm, 
''Ye need not fear that we appear. 

We wish our guard no harm." 
"File Right!" They march around by 
twos. 

Then "right by file" they go; 
"As skirmishers!" The line spreads out, 

All in a perfect row. 

And thus at rest they sang a song. 

In accents fair and sweet, 
The verse so low I could not know. 

But this did they repeat : 
' ' O some are held and silver belled. 

And joyous as the lark, 

A.nd some are gripped in the poison fan^s 

Of the spirit of the outer dark." 
The wind blew free from tree to tree. 



84 Spector of Lo lorn boy 

It blew the song away, 
And all was still from wall to hill, 
As an oyster in the bay. 

''On the right ! Assemble !" called the chief, 

They rnmble low and rattle, 
And some thrcAV off a hand or foot. 

The same he'd lost in battle. 
The second knocked the right man down, 

The next one trips and goes, 
And so it happened one by one 

They fell where they arose. 
The pale moon dipped behind a cloud 

And all was dark and still. 
But even yet unto this day 

I see them bones at drill. 



Aboard the Troopship 85 



ABOARD THE TROOPSHIP. 

Ridin' on the Givernment 

Across the briny sea, 
Lookin' for the halt-block 

Where our next stop u'd be. 

Scttin' on an anchor stalk 

Quiet as could be, 
Lookin' at the fire break 

In the twisted sea. 

Put yer ear ag^ainst the rail. 
Hear the screw blades play, 

Hear the engin's even pulse, 
Steady night and day. 

Stretch out on the foreward boom 

To dream the night away, 
Watch the stars chase forth and back 

Like they were at play. 

See the dipper— night by night, 

Sinkin' in the sea, 
See the cross a climbin' up 

Watch- word like and free. 



86 Aboard the Troopship 

Settiii' on a capstan 

Lookin' wise about, 
Waitin' for fatio^ue call, 

All on board the boat. 

Heard the waves a slashin' 

At her iron sides, 
Heard the boys a janglin' 

As to where she rides. 

'Way to port is water, 

'Way to star-board too, 
And front and aft is water. 

Up-hill to the blue. 

Heard a man say: "Jack-pot," 
And another: "Fifteen-two," 

Another sez: "I'll call you," 

And another: "I'll raise ye two. 

One yelped out: "I'm be^n'," 
Another he says "Check," 

And one, "A hundred aces;" 
Says another: "Cut the deck." 

when yer eatin' swag'in', 
And half the boys are sick, 



Aboard the Troopship 87 



The wind whips somefin' in yer face, 
That turns yer stomach quick. 

Heard a man a sino-in' 

An old love melody, 
Heard another a throwin' up 

His breakfast in the sea. 

One sez: "I know the reason 

''Why the sky is blue; 
"The bloomin' water makes it, 

"Paddy, what say you!" 

An ' Paddy sez : "I 'm thinkin '— 
"But it never yet has dawned, 

"How in thunderin' creation 
"We'll get across the pond. 

"You see now — we've been sailin' 

"West for many a day, 
"But now we've cross the Merid'n, 

"And 'er goin' the other way. 

"So we'll get back to 'Frisco 

"In all brob-billities, 
"And niver have a chance to show 

' ' Our fightin ' qualities. ' ' 



88 Aboard the Troopship 

''You're talkin' like an Indian: 
''Now listen Pat, I'll show 

"You all about the Meridian:" 
But I heard fatigue call blow. 

Settin' on a capstan 
Lookin' wise about, 

Longin' for the sick call- 
All on board the boat. 

Heard the chaplin' preachin', 

For it was Sunday morn, 
Heard the sergeant cursin' 

The reason he was born. 

And when I heard the sick call 

Sez I : " My fever wills, 
That I should fall in line and get 

Some o' them quinine pills." 

Fer no matter what your ail may be 

You'll get a pill that is. 
The same they gavo me yesterday 

Fer siatic rhumatiz. 



Ballad of the Phantom Sage 



89 



BALLAD OF THE PHANTOM SAGE. 

War is Hell : and Hell the grave; 

The Greek will tell us that, 
Are they one and the same with different 
name, 

Who'll read us the riddle to that^ 
May we walk in life thro' the one, 

While we lay our bones in the other ^ 
May we jest as we toss to the wind 

The dust of somebody's mother 1* 

These thoughts hung in my mind, 

As I stood on a cossack post ; 
When a man glided out of the gloom, 

Like a phantom glides after a ghost. 
A man glided out of the gloom, 

And halted close to my side, 
I disobeyed orders "to halt," 

Yet had no desire to hide. 

I could have dropped under the bank. 
That guarded the river's edge, 

I could have plunged into the heart 

Of a pricklev bamboo hedge. ^^ 

I eould have cried, "Call out the guard! 
Or darted behind a tree. 



90 Ballad of the Fhantom Sage 

Or blow'd a hole thro' his head, 
With my old forty-five-seventy. 

But I had no thought of a man, 

Such as we see in the ranks, 
Nor that that a man should fear. 

So much as the shadows of cranks ; 
But thought of lone mountain caves 

And distant desert sands. 
Of skies beyond our skies, 

And lands beyond our land. 

Grim visaged and old was he, 

His hair was white as the swan, 
But black as a crow in the night 

Was the long silk gown he had on; 
His long white locks were curls, 

Way down to the girth of his waist, 
They were tossed like silk by the breeze. 

They were straightened and curled an;^. 
laced. 

His eyes were bright as the fire 
That glows in the electric snark. 

But when we stood face to face, 
They burned steel-blue in the dark. 

A.nd he said as he grasped my arm: 



Ballad of the Phantom Sage 91 

''Thy thoughts have bid me call 
For I am a modern sage 

And can quickly tell thee all." 

''Ye are but a common soul 

With feeling and thought and fire, 
Thy mind must run with thy mass 

To that which is lower or higher: 
Go down to the iron blast 

Where the white-hot metal stands, 
Where it runs from the furnace mouth 

Out into the blistered sands." 

"Go down with balanced mind 
If thou art willing to learn. 
And pass thy hand thro' the stream — 

'Tis true it will not burn. 
So that which is hot as hell 

Is far to hot to burn, 
And that which the fool hath solved 
Shall be left for another to learn." 

"And since it is true of the one. 

It will prove as a bi'eath in the breeze, 

That that which is cold as hell. 
Is far too cold to freeze." 

Where is the hell ve fear? 



92 Ballad of the Phantom Sage 

Is it in thy mind or out 
As the plane of thy life is raised 
Or lowered or tossed about ^ 

''For good is a curse to bad 

As bad is a curse to good, 
And the stronger the one may stand 

Shows the test the other hath stood. 
The one is essential to life, 

Its absence must be deplored, 
The other is builded in minds 

Where truths of the one are ignored. 

"What thoughts have ye of the skies? 

They are cold as an arctic drift. 
And dark as a dungeon at night— 

Now where is the good ye can sift? 
MHiat thoughts have ye of the sea 

Where barren waves are curled ? 
What thoughts have ye of the earth 

Where desert sands are whirled T' 

''Thy measure is in thy mind 
Of all that the earth can give, 
But it shall never be full 
If ye dream thro' the life ye live. 
For some shall ever be rich. 



Ballad of the Phantom Sage 93 

And some shall ever be poor. 
And all shall be schooled to the rule— 
That the best must the worst endure.'* 

' ' Ye are born to a bitter fate, 

If ye idle good time away, 
For the mind must burn the soul. 

At thought of what 's lost in a day ; 
The earth is thy strength and growth, 

Thy life and happiness lies. 
In doing good to the good. 

And helping the wicked to rise." 

I thought between his breaths 

While the night breeze murmured low, 
That if I should suddenly die, 

O ! where would I suddenly go. 

I gazed on this guise of a man. 

Would ask his name and grog; 
But my tongue was still as a mill 

That hadn't a belt or a cog. 
And my mind stood at a loss, 

When I saw his bright eyes shine, 
At the top of the Southern Cross, 

Brighter than those of the sign. 



94 Ballad of the Phantom Sage 

But the profile face and form 

Were still before my eyes, 
But moved away in the gloom 

And faded away in the skies. 
I heard the muffled tramp 

Like that of prowling thief, 
I challenged. These words came back: 

"Guard of the third relief!" 

*In throwing up trenches beyond Paco 
we uncovered the skeleton of a woman. 



1 



When the Troopship Sails to Japan 95 



AYHEN THE TROOPSHIP SAILS TO 
JAPAN. 

When the Troopship sails to Japan, 

When the days of battle are done, 
When the hoys are recalling the frays 

Wlicre honor and valor have icon: 
When the land swdl heaves the ship high, 

And the typhoon rolls the ship low. 
There's a ivonder that hrightens the eye, 

There's a triumph that naught else can 
know. 

Down at Nagasaki, where the mountains dip 
In the deep blue channel close beside our 

ship ; . 

Watch the clouds a drifting 'gainst their 

scraggy tops, 
Listen to the rumble of the anchor as she 

drops. 

Give some Jap a nickle and take his broad 

sampan, 
Tell him where you Avant to go and ho will 

find your man : 
Steady iii the bow boys he'll scull us ?\[ 

ashore. 
He that runs a sampan with a crooked oar. 



96 When the Troopship Sails to Japan 

When your safely landed on the stony quay, 
Fnd a man that understands what you Avant 

to say ; 
Don't go out without a guide a stray in' off 

alone, 
Remember you can't find a place like vou 

could at home. 

Watch the money changer or he will leave 

you short, 
Every soldier's ridin' in a ricksha like lie 

'ort. 
Every soldier's ridin' but couldn't tell y^w 

where, 
Doesn't seem to understand and doesa t 

pear to care. 
Go up to Omori and climb for half a day 
See the ugly wooden gods to whom the na- 
tives pray : 
Get a view of all the town — grandest thing 

on earth— 
Wish that you'd been fostered there ever 

since your birth. 

Go out on the railroad, stop at Michineu. 
Get the hottest mineral bath a Yankee ever 

knew. 
Stop and see the gardens— 'tis a wonder 

treat 



1 



When the Troopship Sails to Japan 97 

To see the Island Empire lying at your feet : 
Mighty small in ratio and mighty great in 

art; 
Begin to think the heathen is most all-lired 

smart. 

See the queerest grave-yards on a ridge of 

rock 
Reaching from the mountain top almost to 

the dock. 
Tomb-stones are all imdressed— just a 

crooked mark — 
Tells the number of a soul, dead and in th e 

dark. 

When they feast the spirit everything is 

grand, 
A thousand paper lanterns shine on every 

hand; 
And music like the night-hawk's is rife 

in every street, 
And every bloomin' idol's got a crowd 

about its feet. 

Praying in a temple or chanting o'er a 

grave, 
Brings to you a terror, an inspiration wave; 
But a thousand red and yellow lights from 

mountain top to sea, 



98 When the Troopship Sails to Japan 

Is a far, far better eye feast than spirit feast 
to me. 

Japan is a wonder land full of wonder folk, 
That never knew the virtue that is in the 

Christian yoke. 
Her flowers have no fragrance, her women 

have no right, 
And yet we long have known her as the 

Oriental lig-ht. 

The beauties of her scenery can never part 

from me; 
I long to solve the wonders that fringe the 

inland sea. 
But see the law and order and the wonder 

work they do, 
Make up your mind the heathen is just as 

smart as you. 

Suppose they all are heathen; what differ- 
ence does it make? 

Don't half the Christian people make a 
worse mistake? 

Better be a heathen with all your soul and 
might, 

Than understand the Bil)h' and live behind 

its \\(r\{{. 



At Hong Kong 99 



AT HONG KONG. 

The sun shone on a p:lad spring day, 
At Hong" Kong, where our squadron lay. 
And newsy yarns began to ring. 
And jolly tars began to sing, 
About the doeks and on the bay, 
In such a fiery sort of way. 
That street folk heard 'n' 'gan to say, 
"Them Yankees '11 start out some night 
"An' like as not there'll be a fight." 

One day Dewey thought he'd go 
Down to the English Club — you know — 
To have a quiet little time, 
And listen to the frosty chime 
The champagne glasses made:— 
It seemed his very soul to haunt- 
To carry hiiii back to old Vermont : 
A cuttin' wood on a winter's day, 
Er a Avaterin' hole down in the pond, 
And hear the sleigh-bells ring— way 
Out across the fields beyond. 

Said an Englishman : "I just want to say, 
"If you go down to Manila Bay, 
"Your goin' to 'ave a 

LofC. 



100 At Hong Kong 

"Your ships '11 go like fire an' stubble, 
"An' if you don't maneuvre Avell, 
"You'll 'ave a job on the seas o' 'ell. 
' ' I tell you George you '11 'ave to fight, 
' ' For they 've got things fixed out o ' sight. ' ' 

"AYell," said Dewey, "if I do 

"They'll know they've been in a scrap or 

two. 
"I'll give 'em a meal of Yankee steel 
"Perhaps they'll honor us with a zeal. 
"But if I catch the bego-ars napping, 
"Like they've been these hundred years, 
"Results will set the nations laughing— 
"All but but one: she'll be in' tears. 
"I think a cruiser's screaming shot 
"Will change the id's that they've got!'' 

He said no more; he sailed away, 

No news came back for many a day. 

But while the world was waiting, 

A Spanish fleet lie grating, 

(AVhile waves roll o'er its decking— 

In a solenm sort of way : 

And hideous shark the waters sweep. 

Where many gallant sailors sleep. 

By their own guns in the unknown deep—) 

At the bottom of famed Manila Bay. 



The Se7itinel's Song 101 



THE SENTINEL'S SONG. 

When the typhoon brings the breakers in 

AVith long and sullen roar, 
And the coco swings its basket top 

To winds along the shore. 
When the moon sinks low in the Western 
sky 
Across the China Sea, 
My thoughts fly back across the world 
To a Home-love calling me. 

In a home-love far across the world, 
Faces appear where the snows are 
whirled ! 

O still are hours at dead of night! 

And stiller yet the Guard, 
His eyes search in the stubborn dark. 

His hope is with the Lord. 
His hope to winnow out the night— 

For he hasn't a shadow of show, 
The foe could steal up unawares 

And stand at his bent elbow : 

The foe could stand at your bent 
elbow. 



102 The Sentinel's Song 

Strike out your life with his keen 
bolo. 

AVe'll leave the ^uard in the jungle deep, 

The winds in the upper air, 
The nigger that steals upon your back, 

The spear thrust unaware: 
And hie away to a brighter place 

Tho' only in thought it be, 
Where joy is joy and death is death 
In the home-love of the free: 

Where joy and life are full and free, 
And safe from dangers that threaten 
me. 



Othe^r Ve^rse^ 



Madrigal 105 



MADRIGAL. 

As sets the sun in cloudless space, 
So clear our minds should ever be, 

And in each thought allow to trace, 
Some axiom of a fair degree. 

Remote from copyed facts may rise, 
Some burst of luxury or fame. 

There by one step we might devise, 
A home of love ; a worthy name. 

How oft we falter on the edge 

Of thoughts sublime or moral gift, 
Tho' pure and free, remote from dredge, 
How oft' we set ourselves adrift. 

Trust not the margins' treacherous sands. 
Nor in the darkness need we stray; 

For there no business firmly stands; 
No light excludes the beams of day. 

How vile is he who prises much. 
But casts no anchor drifts along ; 

How vile is she who fancies such. 

And cheers him on with smile and song. 

In every corner there abides, 

Some moral thought for you and me ; 

There, too, beam forth unnumbered prides; 
Of these from false ones let us be. 



106 /// Springtime 



IN SPRINGTIME. 

Sweet are sounds that fill the air, 
When the leaves aiiain appear; 
When the winds with martial sound 
AVake the armies of the ecround ; 
AVhen cold winter howls alone 
In his everlastino: home— 
Hark! 'Tis nature's reville 
Calling up her infantry. 

Gold must hide all he can buy 
When spring: 's matchless train goes by; 
A¥hen the lark's celestial song 
Cheers the hardy plowman on : 
When the daisies from beneath 
Blade of grass and sprig of heath, 
Peep, like one afraid to show 
Half his brightness here below; 
Lest the needy flock might gain 
Title to his squandered fame. 

AVhen the giant trees arouse 

From their sleep ; and chithe their boughs 

AVith unnumbered dots of green, 

AVhere beneath thp snnli"lit sheen, 

Falls in clusters on the ground: 



In Springtime 107 



Baby sunbeams dance and bound, 
While the breezes gently play, 
Thro' the branches all the day. 

In the cool and courtly shade 
By the leaf -trim 'd forest made. 
Comes a murmur slow and low, 
From the brooklet far below. 
Spreading ore the grassy lawn, 
Each soft note directs the swan: 
Or the wild duck in his flight 
Rests upon the stream at night. 

When at morning and at night 
Every heart filled Avith delight, 
Every hand for ready work. 
Every brain for dutv broke, 
Every eye unweaves a net. 
Every ear for wisdom set : 

Nature's beauty wealth can spy; 
Nor need poverty pass by 
Without viewing: her sweet forms; 
What is life withouf her charms! 
O, when may erudition break, 
AYithin the walls and not mistake, 
A single thing in nature's row, 
Or why the God has made it so.' 



108 Down on the Atnazon 



DOWN ON THE AMAZON. 

I love the sight of broad lagoon ; 

Where the winds are soft and low, 
Where ripples sing a merry rune, 
And the pale light from the distant moon 
Streams through the foliage in bloom 

With measured beat and slow : 
And shadows sway as they steal along — 
At East Branch, down on the Amazon. 

I sit and watch the rustling reeds, 
Where the tit-wren builds his nest ; 

AAHiere the lazy alligator feeds. 

And bright finch through the night-air 
leads 

A host that fortune never needs 
To earn mankind a rest : 

And my heart is thrill 'd with the midn\uht 
song— 

At East Branch, down on the Amazon. 

I hear a splash far down the shore 

Where the drowsy tapirs wade; 
And shadows pass where the night-birds 
soar, 



Down on the Amazon 109 

And I hear the dip of the boatman's oar, 
And the jaguar glides along* the shore, 

On his midnight forage raid : 
"Where grasses are cropped by the spotted 

fawn— 
At East Branch, down on the Amazon. 

Each sonnd and motion has its place 

'Mong sights so grand and gay; 
And if your thoughts for a moment chase 
About the poles, each ice-bound race 
Dream of their heaven in such a place 

Nor know which way the way. 
And I long to join the sights that throng— 
At East Branch, down on the Amazon. 

And I think of my home where chop-seas 
roll, 

My home by the Northern Lakes ; 
In the temperate zone so hot and cold. 
Of forest and field, of pasture and fold, 
AVhere the young are growing swiftly old 

From the qu^'ckening pulse time makes. 
And my thoughts fflide swiftly on and on — 
At East Branch, down on the Amazon. 

Yet who shall know of thincs to be 



110 Down on the Amazon 

At foot of rolling- riin 
Who shall sing' one song of glee 
AVhen throbbing tropic zone they see 
Where sounds are wrapped in melody 

And life is wild and stilH 
Where grandeur passes all scenes beyond- 
At East Branch, down on the Amazon. 



1 



Four Great Gods 111 



FOUR GREAT GODS. 

Three Great Gods came out of the East 
And one came out of the West ! 
They all sat down upon the earth 
And preached that the earth was bles't. 

And man with his little wind-blown wit 
Struggled from North to South, 
For the four Great Gods hung over all, 
The poor, the rich, the great, the small. 
And steeped the minds of the powerful, 
And taught thro' a tongueless mouth. 

And the greatest God of all the Four- 
Bright to the mind's eye— sunny ! 
And Him the tribes of all who knows— 
From the northern floes to the southern 

snows 
Worshipped, and nicknamed ''Money." 

The second God came out of the East 
From where the Pig-tails come. 
And Him all nations bow'd before, 
AA^hile He filled their minds with dreams 
galore, 



112 Four Great Gods 

And they named Him "0-pi-iim." 

Then a third came out of the dark 
To fashion the minds of all ; » 

To Him the wise from all the earth 
Whistled and sanp: in drunken mirth, 
And christened Him "Al-co-hol." 

The fourth Great God ca^iie out of the West \ 
And He was strong and lean, 
And all the nations hurried forth, 
From all the South and all the North 
They called Him "Nico-tine." 

And here ye have the Four Great Gods 
That change the minds of men, 
As a lean cayote upon the plains 
Changes the fat sage-hen. 

There are many Gods upon the earth 
For Avhich men have a thirst, 
But none is loved Avith such a love 
As the one I taught you first. 



OCT 



